Endless Tactics News

[p]So I've just decided to add yet another Artifacts game-mode - tho in this case, unlike Custom Artifacts mode, this one wasn't born out of pure scope creep, but rather a total (and in my opinion much more streamlined) redesign of the "Orbital Anomalies" idea, back from our old dev-roadmap (props to you if you've actually been around long enough remember it lol).
[/p][p]And yes, I'll soon post patch-notes talking more in-depth about it + a ton of other improvements, fixes and changes... This patch, unlike the previous one, actually turned out to be quite stacked, so be prepared to read a lot.[/p][p][/p][p] ... To stop beating around the bush, now's your time to add a design of your own directly into the game! Just drop your Anomaly suggestion down below and I'll almost immediately implement it into the game - either as a "COMMUNITY" challenge, or an official one depending on your will (just say you want to be credited as nickname of choice so I'll be directly displayed into the game) and suggestion quality. You'll also get a free key to the full game (playable right now) if your suggestion makes it into the game - and don't worry, you'd have to actively try to make an absolutely insane one to not even make it into the COMMUNITY Anomalies lol, which are meant to be pretty lax on the balancing side.[/p][p][/p][p]New Operations Menu / Artifact Anomalies Menu[/p][carousel][/carousel][p]As you can see right above, Artifact Anomalies are essentially a fixed set of modifiers, or rather Artifacts that will be unchangeable during your whole Operation... Survive long enough, and then cash in for a big reward! Think of it as a "challenge mode", but with a different name because flavour (and it sounds cooler). Official Anomalies, for instance, will always give bigger rewards, so that I can very flexibly add in the vast majority of your suggestions as they are without compromising balance ;)[/p][p][/p][p]So in short, a new old-shcool gamemode for even more replayability... phew, should be the last actual feature implemented I believe... until post-launch updates that is (more will be revealed soon).

Anyway, just leave your suggestion(s) down below:

ARTIFACTS LIST - Google Sheets (please read this in beforehand)[/p][p][/p][p]As always, most of the feedback gathered and addressed from our Reddit. [/p][p]Feedback Form [/p][p]Discord Server (Dev Updates)[/p][p]- the_procrastinator[/p]

[p]Back again with another biweekly (or close enough) dev update! Once again very much focused on QOL, accessibility and general polish. The goal behind this one was to make the barrier of entry as low as possible, physically most of all - whether you're on crappy laptop with no mouse, on a Steamdeck, busted your keyboard, are left-handed, one-handed, hate using touchpads, or whatever in between, you should be able to play it just fine now. Oh, and we also just released our Demo Page at last, so be sure to leave your review in there if you want to ;)[/p][p][/p][p]CHANGES [/p]

• [p]Keyboard-Only Mode - As the name says, you can now finally fully play the WHOLE game only (and I mean it) using your keyboards. Use the arrow keys and/or WASD to navigate throughout the whole UI, and basically the same logic as the Controller's to navigate through the game's board. Tons and tons of improvements to input-handling, input-switching, UX/UI, controls, and more! The input icons now also dynamically switch whenever you enter keyboard-only mode (aka using the arrow keys to navigate).[/p]
• [p][/p]
• [p]New Mission/Artifacts - New Codex-discovery Mission-type, along with COMPLETEIONIST 1 Mission, which now unlocks endgame Upgrade "Hacked Enemy Units", fittingly so. New rare Artifact "Fractalis": +1 AoE and -2 Damage for every TANK Unit (loosely based on a previous user-suggestion from our forms). [/p]
• [p]Non Linear Volume Sliders (for all of you who deeply despise unreliable volume sliders).[/p]
• [p]Custom Artifacts Mode Improvements - Dynamic tooltip icons for stacking/unstacking artifacts, better navigation, visual feedback, etc.[/p]
• [p]Seamless Input Switching - No more going back-n-forth to the options menu to switch input-mode. Just hit the hotkey, and/or any controller button to active controller-mode, disconnect/connect it to do the same, etc...[/p]
• [p]Egg-hatch blocking damage (to keep it consistent with Nest-spawn blocking).[/p]
• [p]Major Improvements to the Units' Context Menu.[/p]
• [p]Actual Cloud Save-sharing! (between the Demo, Full Version, and upcoming Prologue)[/p]
• [p]Minor main menu overhaul.[/p]
• [p]Better Mouse and Mouse-only Navigation.[/p]
• [p]Even more controller QOL and tweaks.[/p]
• [p]New "Cycle Target" UI display[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Upgrades Menu Improvements[/p]

[p] [/p][p]At this point I'm just adding imaginary items to the bucket list to keep it going, but I'm soon running out of them once again. Any feedback from now on will be almost instantly taken into account, so don't be shy!

Final enemy Unit, The Corruptor, soon to be implemented (as soon as the assets for it are finished). Functionality-wise, it's already 100% complete.[/p][p] [/p][p]As always, most of the feedback gathered and addressed from our Reddit. [/p][p]Feedback Form [/p][p]Discord Server (Dev Updates)[/p][p]- the_procrastinator[/p]

[p]As part of the promise I've made to myself to not let such changes build up so much (like they've always did), here I bring you, only 2 weeks later, the not-as-impressive yet just as necessary list of improvements and polishing done to Endless Tactics![/p][p][/p][p]CHANGES [/p]

• [p]Codex - Like mentioned in the previous patch notes, I've been focusing on getting it done for quite a while, and here it is! Discover every single Unit, Building, and Drop in game for hefty rewards! Complete your Pokedex, so to speak. With handy info available as well once they're registered in.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Input Icons - I've finally stopped pushing this aside and did the deed! Well, more like a this very handy Godot plugin did it for me, aside from a few modifications ;)
  Relevant hotkeys and controls are now ALWAYS displayed organically within the interface, no matter how you're playing the game, via mouse and keyboard, xbox controller, playstation controller, etc etc...
  [/p]
• [p]Lots of Controller QOL - Auto input-mode switching (for whenever you connect/disconnect the controller), more shortcuts, more intuitive controls scheme, etc...[/p]
• [p]Keyboard Navigation - You can now navigate through the whole UI with your keyboard, just like what was previously possible with controller-only. Use arrows or WASD to cycle focus through all kinds of UI components! Toggleable via "Keyboard Navigation" on the Options menu for those who prefer the "legacy" behavior.[/p]
• [p]Major Bugfixes - Crash fixes, Undo-move fixes, general cleanup, input-related fixes, UI fixes, and much more![/p]
• [p]New Legendary Artifact Apexichor - Makes ALL previously-exclusive Apex Unit Passive Abilities droppable, just like for Mechs and Special Enemies! Which means you can for example install Devour on a tank and insta-kill everything it damages![/p]
• [p]Burrowfang Rework - Devour (its exclusive Passive Ability)now makes its holder immune to other units' Devour effects (plus updated description to match it), related to the Artifact above.[/p]
• [p]Custom Artifacts Mode Improvements.[/p]
• [p]New UI Art![/p]
• [p]Major SFX (UI) Improvements![/p]
• [p]More Polish to the new Operations Menu![/p]
• [p]And more![/p]

[p] [/p][p]And by now I've pretty scratched every item of big old bucket list I had... So now it's the time to give us more feedback and see it promptly addressed, if you have any ;)[/p][p] [/p][p]As always, most of the feedback gathered and addressed from our Reddit. [/p][p]Feedback Form [/p][p]Discord Server (Dev Updates)[/p][p]- the_procrastinator[/p]

[p]... And 2 months later, I come again to bring you all the most "recent" changes! As you can see by the subtitle, it's a very polish-intensive Update, rather than being content-focused this time. Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure your experience when coming back to Endless Tactics to give it a check should be vastly better by now, more than ever, with this absolute amalgam of stacked up QOL, fixes, UI Reworks and improvements, for the 5th or so time in a row if I'm counting it right (which I'm probably not since it's literally 4am right now).[/p][p][/p][p]CHANGES [/p]

• [p]Online Scores - Check yours, your rivals', your friends' hyper-detailed (hopefully not getting rate-limited once more players are in) statistics! Waves, Nights, Turns endured, Units Bumped, Damage Taken (?), Surges Blocked, Spawns Denied/Blocked (yup these are all different things you can do now), Tiles Cleansed, etc etc...[/p]
• [p]Completely Reworked Operations Screen! - Juicy roulette-like selection for Planets, accompanied by a ton of Shaders and dynamic animations to make you truly feel like you're selecting planets or something (and basically lifted from 9 King's selection screen).[/p]
• [p]Cursor Overhaul - Dynamically switches back n forth from Hardware to in-game Cursor, for minimal delay and maximum responsiveness... Also included an Option to force the Hardware Cursor for all situations![/p]
• [p]Dual Player Colors - Turrets and Stations now come in a brand new palette! No more confused players trying to select Stations nonstop (I hope?).[/p]
• [p]Major Improvements to Readability - Unit selection, UI spacing, icons, highlighting, Shop UI, pathfinding logic, smart-selection improvements, and many more other seemingly minor but UX-changing tweaks for keeping you properly and aptly informed at all times![/p]
• [p]Several New Artifacts - Just added the absolute craziest Artifacts (Legendary, mostly) to the game! [/p][p][/p][p](pic related to illustrate my point above)[/p]
• [p]Proc-gen Reworks - Tons of innerwork to make (especially) SELKHET's terrain look much better and non nonsensical! [/p]
• [p]Tons of new Art and Audio![/p]
• [p]Endless QOL - Auto-restarts (for applying certain options), new menu Options, dynamic Resolution Scaling (to avoid visual inconsistencies on higher resolutions), Nest Surge panel, major improvements to Controller navigation, Cursor modifier indication, Selection modifier streamlining (holding its key now affects Unit-auto-reselection), etc... [/p]
• [p]Countless UI Improvements![/p]
• [p]Several bug fixes - Crash fixes, visual glitch fixes, multithreading fixes, all kinds of fixes...[/p]
• [p]More Optimizations - Enemy AI, Statistics-tracking, Selection overlay, UI logic, massively better performance on TV screens, and more![/p]
• [p]Balance reworks - Mechs, Self-destruct, Acid Rain, Enemy Scaling, initial Nests spawn...[/p]
• [p]No Player spawn fatigue! - Just cut it off altogether. Only affects Nest-spawns now. Because it was simply unfun.[/p]
• [p]Brand new Unit-Capturing mechanic - Already present via certain (secret) Artifacts... Soon to be accompanied with the fearsome Corruptor - a brand new tick-like Special Unit that wololo's (converts) your Units into its team... try using them with the Hacked Enemies Upgrade maybe?[/p]
• [p]Playable Apex Enemies - Yup, no debuffs, no typical "playable boss" limitations, nothing... Just straight up unfiltered OPness at your arsenal. Obtainable through multiple certain (secret) means.[/p]
• [p]Way too much to list here, so check the rest out by yourself and/or at our Discord dev server (linked below!)[/p]

[p] [/p][p]We also went to a local gaming expo/convention, PUDGames, and that has once again immensely helped us to gather even more crucial UX feedback, all of which (that was thoroughly taken note of while attending) included in the list above :)

Release window likely moved to Q1 2026 for even more polish and UI reworks, just so that we can launch Endless Tactics in the absolute best state possible. So, unless something drastically changes, expect tons of extra little tweaks... everywhere.
[/p][p] ... Exception being the brand new Codex (Units, Items, Buildings, etc) - view all their details from the menu - and discover each one of them for the first time to earn rewards! And should be implemented quite soon for all of you completionists out there.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
Most of the feedback gathered and addressed from our Reddit. [/p][p]Feedback Form [/p][p]Discord Server (Dev Updates)[/p][p]- the_procrastinator[/p]

[p]Once again, I`m here to bring you an amalgam of the last 2 months or so of stacked up changes! While obviously not as game-changing as the latest Apex Update, these are still much impactful and necessary improvements and all in all finishing touches for Endless Tactics. Huge focus on addressing the latest forms feedback, making the game as lightweight and bug free as possible, and bringing controller-navigation up to the mouse-and-keyboard`s level of responsiveness.[/p][p][/p][p]CHANGES [/p]

• [p]Unit Portraits - Yup, they`re finally in! ... Mostly. Apex Enemy, Nest, Bases, and Drops` portraits will follow soon![/p]
• [p]AoE Rework - AoE (Area of Effect) for explosions now FINALLY has actual occlusion. Previously perceived as inherently OP by many players (cough MLRS, Juggernaut...), it's now naturally capped by... simple counterplay - hide behind obstacles and other Units to control the damage. Applies to Attacks, Specials, and Death AoE![/p]
• [p]Endgame Upgrades - Also based on user-feedback, included a few new and almost-endlessly-stackable Upgrades for those who really enjoy the grind! Lying at the end of the Upgrades Tree.[/p]
• [p]Apex Drops - Actually meaningful rewards for killing Apex Enemies! Stack Artifacts you've already collected via the Artifacts Crate, or bolster a desired Unit with the Ascension Core! They do come with a set of unexpected peculiarities, however.[/p]
• [p]Obstacle Drops - As briefly mentioned in the last EMERGENCY PATCH post, Destroyable Obstacles now have a small chance of dropping either Fuel or Gold based on their appearance![/p]
• [p]New Missions and Artifacts! [/p]
• [p]Massive Technical Improvements - Hugely improved multithreading, spawn-queueing for Nests, fixed memory leaks, crashes, Corruption-Spread optimizations, additional object-pooling, better Cursor responsiveness, Shader optimizations, AI improvements, major general fixes...[/p]
• [p]Corruption Particles![/p]
• [p]Revamped Controller Navigation![/p]
• [p]Countless UI Improvements![/p]
• [p]Reworked Damage Falloff - Now entirely dynamic to the Damage stat! Thus making it actually impactful with late game scaling.[/p]
• [p]Tons of major fixes - All previous softlocks, visual glitches, and similar (that I know of) have been thoroughly fixed! [/p]

[p] [/p][p]
Most of the feedback gathered and addressed from our Reddit. [/p][p]Feedback Form [/p][p]- the_procrastinator[/p]